Leadership and Organizational Health

In this blog I already wrote about yoga teacher and holistic healer Slavko Laloš, who joined our NLP Practitioner training at the age of 73. Last month, I visited him in Banja Luka and learned some interesting things about his approach to life. One of his simple thoughts, that shifted my way of thinking, is that being healthy is normal (and of course being sick is not). For most of us this, easy to understand, sentence is really difficult to integrate.

Mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health is essential for well-being of any system (family, community or organization).

What is Organizational Health?

Organizational health is a term that refers to the overall well-being and effectiveness of an organization. In healthy organizations both elements (well-being and results) are present. Work environment supports employees to thrive and the organization achieves its goals.

A healthy organization is able to adapt and respond to changes in its environment, achieve its goals, and effectively carry out its mission.

Above several factors that contribute to organizational health, effective leadership is one of the most important. This factor is about setting a clear direction, inspiring and motivating team members, and creating a culture of trust and collaboration.

Question that I asked myself is “is it possible to have healthy organization without healthy leaders?”. Since all organizations have managers but not all of them have leaders, its good idea that (before I write my thoughts on previous question) underline key differences between management and leadership.

Management vs. Leadership

Some of the differences that I really like are:

• Management is about stability and predictability. Leadership is about movement and challenging status quo.
• Manager is job title. Leader is recognized by others.
• Management is about getting things done through others. Leadership is about inspiring and guiding people to achieve a shared vision.

Here are a few practical examples:

• Management: A store manager might be responsible for organizing the daily operations of a retail store, such as ordering inventory, scheduling staff, and managing budgets.
• Leadership: A team leader at a tech company might set the direction for a group of software developers, inspiring and motivating them to work towards a common goal of delivering a high-quality product on time.
• Management: A HR manager might be responsible for managing employee records, coordinating training and development programs, and handling employee relations issues.
• Leadership: A community organizer might work to bring people together to achieve a common goal, such as saving neighborhood park from politicians and investors.

Correlation between leader’s health and system’s health

Both leader’s and system’s (family, organization, community… ) health should be analyzed in 4 dimensions: physical, emotional, spiritual and cognitive. Most of individuals (and systems) put focus on 1 or 2 out of these 4 areas. But that is not enough. It is essential to actively work on the improvement in all 4 areas. If role of the leader is to effectively guide and inspire others, and create a positive and supportive work environment, leader’s first task should be to take care of his / hers own health. This can have a ripple effect throughout the system, leading to increased engagement of others, productivity, and overall system’s health.

On the other hand, if the leader is unhealthy, it can have a negative impact on the organization / system. This might manifest in low morale, poor communication, and a lack of direction or focus, which can lead to decreased productivity and overall organizational health.

It is essential for leaders to prioritize their own health and well-being in order to effectively lead and support the health of any system (family, organization, community etc).